A group of city contractors in Evanston, Illinois, was filmed chasing down and beating up an older individual after he was caught urinating on a utility box near Fountain Square in the city’s downtown area.
Video taken on Feb. 13 showed five members of the Streetplus street cleaning service chase down and knock a man to the ground before several of the street cleaners began punching and kicking the man.
“I’ll just put yo ass to sleep,” one of the street clearners shouts before throwing a punched at the downed man.
One bystander actively intervened, pulling several of the Streetplus employees away from the man as he lay on the ground. Additional bystenders came to stand between the Streetplus employees and the man they had attacked.
The man, who was wearing a dark jacket and green football jersey, was eventually able to get back on his feet.
Moments before that portion of the altercation, city-owned security camera footage caught footage of the man in the green jersey urinating on a utility box while the Streetplus crew was out collecting trash. The city of Evanston shared the security camera footage, but YouTube has deleted the video.
After the Streetplus employees noticed the man in the green jersey was urinating on the utility box, they confronted and surrounded him. During what appeared to be a heated conversation, the man in the green jersey he raised his fist at times and shoved one of the bystanders who had stepped between him and the Streetplus employees.
As the Streetplus crew began to walk away, the man in the green jersey actually aggressively chased after the crew, which then turned and chased him down.
Evanston had brought on the Streetplus crew in November. The team was tasked with garbage pickup and removal, sticker and graffiti removal and other tasks to keep downtown parts of the city clean.
According to the Evanston Round Table, the Streetplus team was suspended following the altercation.
